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Alamogordo City Commission OKs displaying 'In God We Trust' in city hall

By John Bear / alamogordonews.com

Posted:
01/09/2013 07:20:21 AM MST

A divided Alamogordo City Commission voted Tuesday night to display the words "In God We Trust" in city hall and possibly change the city's logo to include the language.

District 4 and District 2 commissioners Josh Rardin and Nadia Sikes abstained from voting on the measure and citizens on both sides of the issue made impassioned pleas.

Mayor Susie Galea granted two 15-minute long periods for citizens to speak in favor of or against the change.

Several citizens spoke out against the measure, giving varying reasons such as passing the measure would be against the inclusive spirit of the United States, which is officially a secular nation.

Others cited the questionable constitutionality of making commissioners vote on the measure, because doing so amounted to a "religious test" in the words of Rosemarie Ferrara. "

That is a personal, private matter between every man and every woman and their god," Ferrara said.

She said city commissioners were expected to use science and facts to make their decisions, not the Bible.

Susan Payne said the notion that people should base their decisions on science and not religion was "insulting to me as a Christian."

Payne also took issue with Tristan Lenzo's suggestion that the city choose "In People We Trust" as its motto, saying that idea was "scary.

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Lenzo said that though Alamogordo was a highly religious community, it should take care to keep its views in line with the rest of the country, which he said, includes a sizable portion of the non-religious.

Pamela Lee spoke in favor of the measure and said commissioners could choose to vote on the matter or not and doing so did not constitute establishing a religion, which is against the establishment clause of First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Several armed forces veterans spoke on the matter, one for and two against.

One person speaking in favor of the matter gave statistics that show over 90 percent of Americans believe in God.

A person who spoke out against it gave statistics that show nearly 20 percent of Americans have no religious affiliations.

District 5 Commissioner Al Hernandez said he had served on the commission from 1996-2000, missing only one meeting. At all the others, he said, there was an opening prayer, and no one ever complained.

District 3 Commissioner Robert Rentschler said every dollar bill in his pocket bore the words "In God We Trust" and he didn't think displaying it in city hall was an endorsement of religion.

Galea, who sponsored the resolution, said the measure wasn't about religion or politics but liberty and freedom, though she did remark during the proceedings that God is "the beginning and the end."

Alamogordo is following in the footsteps of Artesia, which added the phrase to its city hall late last year.

The move is part of a larger effort initiated by a California politician in the early 2000s.

Contact John Bear at jbear@alamogordonews.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnbearwithme